Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs
Benita Ferrero-Waldner
on the occasion of her visit to the OPCW
The Hague, November 26, 2001

Director General,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentleman,

More than four years ago I visited the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time. The Convention had just entered into force and States Parties were convening in The Hague for their first meeting. The entrance into force of the Convention conveyed a feeling of hope and confidence. Today’s visit at the OPCW gives me a very good impression of the important progress the Organisation has been making since its establishment.

I wish to thank Director General Bustani for the opportunity to address the Permanent Representatives to this Organisation. I had the pleasure to meet with the Director General in Vienna earlier this year, and I reassured him of Austria’s strong and continued commitment to the work of the OPCW. I welcome this opportunity today to share with you a few comments and thoughts with regard to the implications of recent international developments.

September 11 has changed the world in many respects. The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington were directed against all freedom loving peoples of the world, in fact against humanity as such. These acts were a brutal awakening, showing that the international community – satisfied with the end of the Cold War – had deemed itself safer than it was and had lowered its guard. Now is the time to act in the fight against terrorism. Now there is no excuse left for complacency.

Terrorists who are willing to kill thousands are ready to kill hundreds of thousands or millions of people. The spectre of weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of terrorists or irresponsible regimes willing to use them unfortunately appears all too real. It is our solemn duty to do the utmost to eliminate such dangers.

The tragedy of September 11 was also a stark reminder of the enormous responsibility we all bear for making this world safer for the benefit of the population of our own countries, for our families and children.

It is without any doubt that these events and their aftermath have made instruments such as the Chemical Weapons Convention and the OPCW even more important. It has also increased, Mr. Director General, the responsibility and the urgency of the work of your organization. I am convinced that you and your staff as well as the Permanent Representatives assembled here today are more than willing to shoulder the increased weight of their task to render the world free from the danger of chemical weapons.

Multilateral disarmament is at a crossroad with new threats challenging our common security situation. Only a few weeks ago the terrorist network of Al-Qaeda declared to be in possession of weapons of mass destruction. Based on truth or not, this announcement makes our alarms sound. The necessary responses to the new threats and challenges must be found at the global level.

The Chemical Weapons Convention is a cornerstone in our search for multilateral solutions to prevent the risks of an arms race. The common point of departure is the prohibition of the use of chemical weapons.

Our commitment to join our efforts to prevent their proliferation is part of that obligation.

We are convinced that all states will gain enormously from adhering to the Chemical Weapons Convention:

 - it prohibits the development and acquisition of chemical weapons,

- it prevents an arms race,

- it sets a timeframe for their destruction,

- it establishes a verification system based on mutual confidence.

There is no alternative to the Chemical Weapons Convention. It is the best example that we cannot achieve the priority of disarmament and non-proliferation of these weapons of mass destruction on a unilateral basis. It is clear that our common endeavours will suffer from serious setbacks if we fail to honour our commitments effectively.

Therefore we need to address the difficult challenges with regard to the implementation of our obligations stemming from the Convention.   We depend on the ability and the capacity of the OPCW to meet these challenges in close cooperation with the United Nations System and other international organisations in the fight against such destructive and pernicious weapons.

This ultimate goal should not remain an unfulfilled promise and must become reality. The significant and growing number of countries that have ratified the CWC testifies to the strength and importance of the Convention. It is really encouraging to see that to date, 143 countries have already ratified or have acceded to this Treaty.

Universal adherence to these instruments is of the utmost importance. Pressure must therefore be increased on countries that are still outside the Chemical Weapons Convention. Austria - together with its European Partners - will continue her efforts to work towards universal adherence to the CWC. This is a solemn commitment that I am willing and proud to renew here today. This will include in particular efforts to encourage States, which are believed to possess chemical weapons and have neither ratified nor acceded to the Convention, to do so as soon as possible.

There is the danger of setbacks, however. We cannot afford to accept any form of erosion of the support and commitment for the continuous implementation of the Convention. We must insist that the responsibilities under the Convention are strictly adhered to by all parties.

Let me focus on some concrete implementation issues, which in my view deserve our fullest attention, particularly under the present circumstances:

First, we need to concentrate on the total elimination of chemical weapons and the capacity to develop them. There is some good news with regard to  progress in destruction of chemical weapons by the declared possessor States. However, there is no alternative to reinforcing the commitment for effective and full implementation and compliance with the imposed deadlines for destruction. Let me take this a step further by saying that the current circumstances call for an even speedier timetable. The destruction of stockpiles of chemical weapons has to be completed as quickly as possible!

It is therefore very worrying to hear about developments indicating serious difficulties for some countries in maintaining the imposed destruction deadlines.

I do not want to prejudge the upcoming discussions in the Executive Council on this issue. But, distinguished representatives, let me remind you once again of the solemn responsibility to find an expedient  solution, mindful of the co-operative spirit that has characterized the work of this Organization so far, but also bearing in mind the new urgency to complete the task.

Let me also re-iterate the special responsibility residing with the countries possessing or having developed chemical weapons in the past to eliminate these weapons. I would like to urge those countries again to undertake all possible efforts to further accelerate their chemical weapons destruction schedule. Nobody and nothing can take this responsibility away from them.

Secondly, we are called upon to make the system of declarations and inspections under the Convention a reliable tool for controlling the non-proliferation of chemical weapons. At present the system meets the expectations for compliance only in part. States Parties to the Convention need to be prepared to actually use its procedures with the assistance of the Technical Secretariat, wherever appropriate, in order to promote compliance with the Convention.

Considerable progress must therefore be achieved with regard to outstanding issues concerning industry verification. The Organisation is called upon to settle issues, such as transfer restrictions for Schedule 3 chemicals to States not Party to the Convention or the harmonisation of plant site import and export declarations. We need to build upon the mutual understanding and co-operation with chemical industries for the Convention to function efficiently, but of course we also need to take into account their legitimate commercial and security interests.

Thirdly, we must recognize that our efforts on the global level will only be successful if existing obligations are fully implemented and enforced by each and every Member State. That means that the necessary measures must be taken on the national level to allow for prosecution of acts in violation of the prohibitions of the Convention. The Convention allows us to monitor overall progress on compliance. I am in favour of identifying appropriate measures to assist Members having difficulties in fulfilling their obligation to  enact enforceable legal provisions for the effective implementation of the CW-Convention.

Finally we need to focus particularly on issues related to international co-operation, protection and assistance. Austria  recently hosted the Fifth Annual Assistance Coordination Workshop in Vienna and we appreciate its successful work. The results have underlined, however, that a lot remains to be done. Austria gladly provides the facilitator for the consultation process on the concept paper for protection and assistance.

In Austria’s view State Parties will be best served by continuing their focus on concrete measures aimed at building a capacity for the peaceful application of chemistry, as well as on administrative and technical support for National Authorities and other forms of implementation assistance. Work should therefore continue with a view to providing the Organisation with sufficient capacity for mobilising and co-ordinating the necessary international response to requests of assistance and protection.

The system established by the Convention is of one of mutual cooperation. The work and the success of the Organisation are largely dependent on the capacity of Member States to submit their offers or voluntary contributions to the Organisation.

In accordance with our constitutional and legal requirements, Austria has offered a search and rescue unit called the Austrian Force for Disaster and Relief Unit (AFDRU) for operations in an environment contaminated by chemical weapons.

Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished delegates,

The Convention is now in its fifth year of implementation. The First Review Conference is coming closer. You and your delegations here in The Hague are entrusted with important responsibilities in preparing for a successful review process. Our shared objective in this exercise will be the further improvement and strengthening of the operability of the Convention. The experience gained since its entry into force will help to set the path for this Review.

In conclusion let me recall a few words, which are familiar to all of us but are worth remembering time and again: “Determined for the sake of all mankind, to exclude completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons, through the implementation of the provisions of this Convention…” The recent events have in my opinion brought new meaning to this hopefully uncontroversial phrase of the Preamble. Let us prove now that we can rise to the occasion and rid our world of the evil of chemical weapons once and for all. 

Thank you very much for your attention.